The three of them walked abreast along a narrow road consisting of no more than two bare strips of dirt in the grass. What they had witnessed in the last hour required the silence of personal reflection. Their lives were now entwined with the two people they left alone in that building. Each of them had contributed in some way to that relationship. Each had walked away with something.
Officer Quint had gained four new friends. Protect and Serve took on a new perspective. To his right, walked the woman he might marry – Connie Spencer. To his left, her brother, Howard walked in reflective silence. Each still held the final pieces to the puzzle they left behind. For Quint, those pieces were essential to wrapping up his case. Yet it was Spencer who broke the silence first.“I’ve got to hand it to you Len; I had it figured completely different. How did you unravel all that?”“Sleuthing mostly, but it didn’t take me long to realize that most people give a lot away if you listen and observe profoundly.” Quint paused and eyed the young lawyer respectfully. “You were a lot harder to read. There is one thing I still don’t understand – it’s out of character. Lisa said that when she was choking, you stood by and did nothing.”Spencer colored and shook his head. “She was having a hard time of it, but she was breathing. I was keeping my eye on Allen. He went straight to the driver’s side of his vehicle. When he opened the glove box, I was sure he’d come out with a gun, but he had a little tablet instead. By the time he got in his car and left, Lisa was recovering.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know why I kissed her. Well, yes I do, but I don’t know why I gave in to temptation at a time like that.”“I do,” Quint supplied instantly. “There is something about the way she looks at you when she needs your help – so vulnerable. I don’t think she has a clue how irresistible men find her. Maybe that’s part of her charm.”Connie sighed. “She knows men are attracted to her beauty, but she doesn’t realize it’s merely what gets them to her door. Her personality is the attraction after that.”Quint took her hand. “Reminds me of someone else I know.” He was rewarded with an adoring smile. “Yes,” he continued “I remember that little tablet. He must have gone straight from there to me. He sure was anxious to unload everything he knew about Giddon. There wasn’t anything on that tablet that I didn’t already know at that point, though. Ironically, it was something he told me Lisa said that gave me the idea to search somewhere else.”Spencer stopped and they all faced each other. “What was that?”“Mertz said she told him she didn’t know who Yancey was or what he did. He couldn’t understand why she would say that when she’d been living in his house so long. I had already searched for the name Yancey Giddon, but found nothing. Not even a birth date or social security number. I went to Lathum and told him what I had. I figured he’d be upset because I was still working on it. He was impressed that I had done so much on my own time and without breaking any rules - so impressed that he got me limited security access to do more sleuthing. I figured that if Giddon was using a pseudonym, he would have to either do his banking with his own name or fill out some kind of paperwork to do business under another name. I looked up pseudonym on-line to see how to do that. It had a lot of information about authors, which made me think of her term, temperamental – as in artists. Then I remembered her talking to me about the paintings on his walls. I looked up Andy Gordon and found lots of pictures of his paintings, but no pictures of him, and very little information about him. I thought that was odd. I finally searched the identity record in the US Copyright Office records for Andy Gordon and Yancey Giddon. That’s where I found the connection. Andy Gordon and Yancey Giddon were the same person.”“But how did you know he wouldn’t do something to her to keep his secret. She did say he was temperamental,” Connie said.“The day Mertz attacked her; I talked to Lisa and Giddon on her front porch. Giddon encouraged her to file a police report, and she refused. She didn’t act like she was afraid of him. She acted like she was trying to protect him. Now, if I was trying to hide my identity, the last thing I would want her to do would be to file a police report while she was living under my roof. He did act hesitant about it, but his encouragement sounded sincere. That impressed me. It also told me he was willing to make a sacrifice for her protection. Lisa had time between when Howard left and Giddon arrived to call the police, but she didn’t. It was Giddon who called me. No, he wasn’t going to hurt her. It did cross my mind that Mertz might have something to worry about, though.”Spencer grunted. “I suspected him right from the start. That’s why I sent Mertz.”Connie caught her breath “So you were the one who told him how to get to the house. I trusted you with that information and you gave it to the one person she didn’t want to know.”
Spencer shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at the ground. “I know, but at the time I though I was helping her. I feel bad about that.” He finally looked up at Len. “I could understand why he would be chasing her, but if I’d have known she’d go for a guy older than me . . .”
“But he isn’t,” Connie broke in.
“I’ve been admiring Andy Gordon Paintings for a decade,” Howard countered.
“Right. So has Lisa. She was the one who told me that he was a child prodigy. He sold his first painting at age fifteen – something like $17,000.” She shook her head in dismay. What are the odds that she’d ever meet him, much less marry him? And when she’s surrounded with his work, she still doesn’t recognize him. I’m surprised she didn’t figure that one out right away.” She sighed. “I guess it’s true. Love is blind.” She glanced quickly at Quint. “Sometimes.”
“I figured he was dealing with some kind of contraband.” Howard said “That’s why I hired Mertz. I figured he would pick up on things I wouldn’t. I knew he and Lisa had dated for a long time, and I knew they had a falling out, but I never thought he’d try to hurt her physically. I guess I’m not a good investigator. I was trying to research the buyer. Lisa seemed to fear him more than she did Giddon.”
“Yeah,” Connie chimed in. “She told me she thought she loved Giddon, but at the same time she was having Howard investigate him. It’s almost like fear drew her to him.”“Not fear, adventure.” Quint said. “I don’t think she was ever afraid of him. I think her biggest fear was that she’d lose him. She didn’t want to believe he was doing something like that, but it was fresh on her mind that the unthinkable actually does happen.” He shook his head. “I know how she feels. I always thought I knew what was going on out there. I was shocked at how harsh reality can be. It takes a while to adjust. I think helping Lisa has made me realize that one person can make a difference. You just have to work at it a little at a time. Each case I handle gives me that much more experience. For every tragedy, there is a possible happy ending. Lisa wasn’t looking for it, but when she saw it, she knew what it was.
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